nordenfelt



(No Model.)

6 SheetsSheet 1.

, T.NORDENFELT.

'BREECH MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

Patented June 12, 1888.

6 Sheets-Sheet; 2.

(No Model.) I 1 t T. NORDENPELT.

BRBEGH MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

' N0 384,537. Patented June 12, 1888.

Fig. 3.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

T. NORDENFELT.

BREEGH MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

No. 384,537. Pa tented'June 12, 1888.

(Nb Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

T. NORDENFBLT.

BREE-0H MECHANISM FOR GUNS. v No. 384,537. Patented June 12, 1888.

Fig. 7.

Witn warm.

(No Model.) 8 6 Sheets- Sheet 5.

T. NORDENFEL'T.

BREEGH MECHANISM FOR GUNS,

. Patented June 12, 1888.

(No Moder 6 sheets-Sheet 6;

T. NORDENPELT.

BREEGH MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

No. 384,537. PatentedJune 12, 1888'.

UNITED STATES THOBSTEN NORDENFELT, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND, AS SIGNOR TO THE NORDENFELT GUNS AND-AMMUNITION COMPANY, (LIMITED,) OF SAME PLACE.

BREECH. MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 384,537, dated June 12, 1888.

Application filed April 2, 1888.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THORSTEN NORDENFELT, a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at 53 Parliament Street, in the city of Westminster, England, civil engineer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech Mechanisms for Guns, of which the following is a specification.

' My improvements relate to that class of m breech'mechanism in which the breech of a gun is closed by ablock having'segments of a screwthread on its sides to look into corresponding segments within the interior of the breech, so that to open the breech the screw-block has i 5 first to have a partial turn given to it, and then to be drawn backward. .7

According to my invention I, by means of one turning movementof a lever-handle which forms part of the movable breech-piece, give to such screw-block first a turning movement to disengage the screw-threads, then a backward movement to draw it back clear of the breech, and then carry it to one side to leave a clear opening into the breech end of the bore. The wayin which I preferto effect this isshown at Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the drawings hereunto annexed. A modified construction is shown at Figs. 7, 8, and 9.

Figure 1 is a back view of the gun with the 0 breech closed. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line A B, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-see tion on the line E F after the second part of the opening movement. Fig. 4is a longitudinal section on the line C D. Fig. 5 is a back 5 view of the gun with the breech open, and Fig. 6 is asection on the line a b 0: Fig.7 is v a longitudinal section of the modified construction. The section is taken on the line B S T U V, Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a back view with the breech closed and locked, and Fig. 9 is'a back view with the breech-open ready to receive a fresh cartridge.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, A is a screw breech-piece; A, the segments of screw-thread 4 5 on its sides to lock into corresponding screwsegments in the breech end of thegun. The breech-piece A extends backward beyond the rear end of .the gun and enters loosely into a carrier-ring, B. This ring has a short arm 77 ex ending from it, and a boss, B, at the end Serial No. 269,315. (No model.)

of the arm can be turned about, a pin,O,which projects backward from the rear end of the breech of the gun. a D is a ring embracing and free to turn around the front end-of the carrier ring. 5

D is a lever-handle extending from the ring D, by' which the ring can be turned. D is a pin projecting inward from ,the' ring and passing through a slot, B, in the carrierring into a helicoidal groove, A, in the screw breech-piece A. A is a lug projecting from the screw breechpiece. It enters a slot cut out from the front end of the carrier-ring, and serves as a stop to prevent the breech-piece being turned too far. It can also bedra'wn backward along a longitudinal slot, B on the inside of the carrierring when the screw breech-piece has been turned into a position to unlock it from the screw-segments in the gun.

The intcrlor of the carrier-ring is cut away in segments corresponding tothescrew-segments of the breechpiece, so that when the breech-piece has been unlocked it may be drawn backward into it.

the arm which carries the carrier-ring. When the boss is turned around the pin 0, it comes against a fixed projection, E, on the breech end of the gun, and the extent to which it can be turned is thereby limited.

B is a stop-plate-fixed to the front end of the v boss, B, and which, when the breech-piece has been drawn back and an empty'cartridge-case with it, comes in front of the flange of the cartridge as soon as the carrier is turned to one side, and prevents the empty-cartridgecase from being pushed back into the gun. The extractor is formed of a slide, F,.having ahook at its front end to hook over the rim at the rear end of the cartridge-case and capable of being moved along a slot, G, in the gun, which is a deepening of one of the grooves cut away between the segments of screwthreads in the gun. On the inner face of the slide are teeth to engage with the screw-threads on the screw-breech-piece.

The action of the mechanism is as follows: To open the breech, the .ring D has a partial ;,turn giyento it byit'silever handle D. The pin 13, which isithen atone end of the helicoidal fro B is an arm extending from the boss 13 of groove, A, tends either to turn the screw-breech A or to draw it back; but as the screw-threads upon the screw breech-piece are interlocking with the screw-threads in the gun it cannot be drawn back, and therefore it is turned until the screw-segments upon its sideare disengaged from the corresponding screw-segments in the gun. The lug A then comes to the end of the slot, cut away from the front end of the carrier-ring, and comes opposite to the end of the longitudinal slot B in the ring." Therel'ore,as the outer ring, D, continues to be turned, and as the screw-breech is now prevented from turning, but free to be drawn back, it is drawn back into the carrier-ring. When the lug A by the backward movement of thebreech-piece has passed out from the rear end of the carrier-ring, the screw breech-piece is still prevented from turning by reason'of the screwsegments upon it lying in corresponding grooves formed longitudinally on the inside of the carrier-ring. When the pin arrives at the end of the helicoidal groove in the screw breech-piece, and the screw breechpiece consequently cannot be drawn back any farther, its front end has been drawn back from the bore of the gun and the extractor,which comes back with it, has also been drawn back clear of the gun; and as the turning movement of the handle D is continued, the carrier-ring,

being now no longer restrained from being turned around the pin' is turned around this pin and carries the breech-piece to one side,

leavingthe rear end of the gun open. Thearm B then comes against the fixed stop E, which prevents all further movement of the carrier-ring. The extractor on the oommence-' ment of the opening of the breech is first drawn back slowly a short distance by the action .of the screw-threads onth'e breech-piece, and' consequently has great power. to start back the cartridge-case.- When the breech piece is drawn backward, (the teeth on the extractor being still interlocked with the screw-segment position for the front end of the breech-piece tocome into position in rear of it and the hook of the extractor to come in front of the rim on its base when the breech is being again closed.

The edge of the carrie'rring which firstcomes against the rear end-of the cartridge-ease at the time whenthe breech is being closed may be somewhat beveled oh", so that should the cartridge have reboundedsomewhat. from the stop-plate 13 ,01 not have been pushed home to it, this beveled edge may push the cartridge forward up to the stop-plate andallow the breech-screw to be brought into position be hind it. The closing of the breech is effected by turning the handle D'in the opposite direction .to that required for opening it.

-1. will now'deseribe the modified construc tion shownat Figs..7, 8, and 9. In this modification, in place of the groove A on the exterior of the screw breech-piece there is a groove on the exterior of the gun to effect the In other respects, also, the consame object. struction, is modified.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9, a is-the screw breech- I piece. I) is a ring capable of turning around its rear end.

b are radial arms extending from it,and provided with handles I), by which the ring can I be turned.

c is 'a radial bolt, by which the screw and ringare at times locked together. It lies in a radial recess in the part a. Its outer end'is V- shaped and enters a corresponding notch, b, in the ring I). When the bolt is restrained from moving inward; the screw and ring are locked'together; butwhen the bolt is movedinward the screw is unlocked from the ring,

so that the ring can turn around the screw without the screw being turned.

d d are arms extending forward from the radial arms I) along two opposite sides of thebreech end of the gun.

' d are rollers at their-ends, which-enter grooves e 8, formed in' the sides of the gun.

The central part .of this groove is, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, made inclined to the bore. V

f is a pin or. axis upon which the breechpicce 00' turns. It is fixed to {an arm, which can turn upon and also slide backal'ong'a fixed stud, h, which'proj ects from the rear endofthe gun. The rear extremity, h, of the stud h is made to the-form of a segment of a ring which is concentric with the stud.

b is a groove in the front face of one of the radial arm's, which passes onto and embraces this segment end after the-screw breech-piece has been unlocked anddrawn back. So soon as the groove 25 engages with the annular segment h, the ring I) turnsaround the stud h un til the screw a is supported by the stop' j, which stands out from the rear end of thebreech of the gun. The-parts-are then in the shown in Fig.3.?

In opening the breech the screwc and ring '1) are at first locked together by the radial bolt c, as the inner end of the'bolt then abuts against the axis f. e. Consequently when the ring is turned both the ring and the screw turn together until the inner end of the bolt 0 comes opposite to and is made to enter a recess in the axis f, and is thereby disengaged from the ring, leaving the ring'frce to continue turning without turning the screw. l he'end wise movement: is given to the bolt by a pin, a, up'on it, which enters the inclined end of a slot, b, in the ring.. The incline of the slotis therefore always tending to press the bolt in ward. As the ring continues its turning moveposition ment, the rollers d at the extremity of the arms it now enter the parts of the groove e, which are inclined to the central line of the bore,

- and the screw is drawn back until the rollers come into the end portions of the grooves, which arenot inclined. The radial arm I) then engages with ,the stud h, and a pin, t, on'the ring having now been brought to the end of a slot'in the arm 9, the ring I), with its arms b turns.

- by the spring is.-

' Z is the trigger in a line with-and in rear of it. This trigger is also pressed forward by a spring, 1. When pressed forward by the spring, it has alsoa'p'artia-l rotation given to it by'a pin,.Z, fixed to the axis'f, entering an inclined groove formed around its'circnmference. in its front end is arecess, 1?, into which the rear end of the stem of the striker can be made to'enter when it is brought into a line I -With-it; -When a-turning'movlement is given" to the breech-screw to unlock it, an incline, a, on the breech-screw, acting upon 2. lug, k pro-l jecting from the hammer, forces the hammer back, and then gives to it a partial term A lug projecting from the hammer is thereby brought in rear of a stop, m, carried by the axis f and the hammer is held back; As the hammer is being, pressed back, asabove mentioned, it presses back the trigger also,.and as the trigger is moved back it alsohas a partial turn givento it in the' manner above mentioned, audat the'end of its backward movement thQSlObjF- in its front end'is brought into such a positionthattherear end. of the stem of the-.h'ammer'reanenter into it, and when thehammer has a partial turn given to it at the end of its backward movement the ward by its spring.

trigger-block, being- 'pressed forward by its spring, turns-withit and passes onto the rear end of the stem-x To releasethe hammer, the trigger-block has to be pnlled'backward by a cor When drawn back, it turns the hammer in the opposite direction to that ;.above mentioned, and so sets it jfre'e to be thrown fora is the extractor. It slidesfina longitudinal groove in the rear end of the gun: Itembreech screw is turned. When the screwjs ries'a tooth, n, with which one ofithe screw threads of the breech-screw engages when the :turned to open the breeclna slight backward movement is therebygi ven tothe extractor,

and the empty'czirtridge-case is started back from the rear end of the bore bf thegun.

-When the breech-screw is drawn back,'the-ex- Y 'tractorcarries the cartridge-case backward along with it. \Vhen at the end of the backward movement of the breech-screw, the breech-screw is turned to one side, the threads of the screw become disengaged from the tooth n of the extractor.

When a new cartridge is placed into the gun, its flange carriesthe extractor forward along with it. When the breech-screw has been moved forward to close the breech and has a partial turn given to it to lock it, the cartridge is'pressed, home and carries the extractor along with it. One of the screwthreads of the breech-screw also engages with the tooth n of the extractor and presses it forward. In order that it may at this time be free to move forward, the tooth is carried by a small slide, a which is free to move to and fro along the extractor-stem, but is pressed backward by aspring, n. When the screw has been turned to its locked position, the screwthread becomes disengaged from the toothn, and the spring n presses the slide 72,? back against part of the extractor-stem, so that when the breech-screw is again turned to open the breech and the screw again engages with the tooth n the extractor is at once drawn back by it. e

What I claim is 1. Breech mechanism for guns having a screw-breech-piece with divided segments of 'screw-threadsuponit, corres onding segments in the gun for these segments to look into, a ring capable'of being turned around the rear end of such breech-piece, a lever-handle extending from the ring by which it can be tn rned, a pin 'or pins carried by the ring to enter inclined grooves, so disposed that when the ring is turned by its lever-handle it first gives a partial turn to the breech-piece to unlockit, and I then draws the breech-piece back clear of the rear end of the gun, and a pin projectingfrom the rear end of the gun, around which the ring is then turned by the continued movement of its lever-handle, and the breech-piece thereby icarried'to one side and out .of line with the bore of the gun.

32 The combination of a gun having divided segments of screw-threadswithin. its breech end, a breech-piece having corresponding segm'ent's'to lock into them, and also having an inclined groove-passing partly around it, a carrier r-i-ng into which the rear end of the breech-piece extends, a short-arm extending fronrtheringmnd capable of heing turned around a pin projecting rearward from the breech end of the gun,a ring with'lever-handle extending from it capable of being turned agoundzthe carrierring, and a pinprojecting ,inward'from the ring and entering the inclined groove in the breech-piece, thewhole'so dis posed that on'the ring being turned in one-direction the breech-piece has firstt-a-partial turn given toit, -is then drawn back,-'and then by the continued movement of its lever-handle carried to one side of the gun;

3. The com binationof afg'g gqghaving' divided screw-segments Within its breech, a breechpiece With corresponding screw-segments, a carrier-ring into which the rear end of the breech-piece extends,'a short arm extending from the ring, a pin projecting rearward from the breech end of the gun, around which the arm can be turned, 'anextraetor sliding in a longitudinal groove in the gun and having teeth upon it to engage with the screw-threads on the breech-piece, and a longitudinal groove [.5 in the carrier-ring, into-whichthe extractor'is drawn when the breech-piece is, drawn beck 

